By MIKE BAKER, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published 10:06 am, Monday, October 31, 2011

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Initiative promoter Tim Eyman has spent years quarreling with state lawmakers, trying to curb their power to raise revenue. This year, he wants to ensure they don't give those same powers away.

Eyman's latest ballot proposal would force legislators to vote on tolls for transportation projects instead of allowing a commission to set the rates. He said "unelected bureaucrats" should not have the ability to create driving fees.

"As critical as I am of the Legislature, at least they are accountable," Eyman said. "We can vote them out of office if we don't like what they do."

State officials have been increasingly looking at tolling as a way to fund major transportation projects, such as the 520 bridge, the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement and the Columbia River bridge connecting Vancouver, Wash., and Portland, Ore. Gas tax revenue is plateauing, and much of it is already destined for projects in the works.

Democratic leaders believe Eyman's plan, Initiative 1125, would make tolling as a transportation funding source much more costly, if not impossible.

State Treasurer Jim McIntire said the state wants to finance projects using bonds backed by the tolls. But he warned that investors won't be interested in betting on a process that could be marred by politics — and that would drive up the costs of borrowing. He said it would essentially force the state to find other revenue sources.

"We'd have to find gas taxes to back the bonds," McIntire said.

Bonds backed only by tolls are more expensive than those backed by gas taxes. For the 520 bridge replacement, the state is looking at providing 10 percent of the financing with toll-backed bonds at a rate of 7.3 percent. That's three percentage points higher than triple-backed bonds, which are supported first by tolls, then by gas taxes, then by a general pledge of the state.

Eyman said the state should focus on issuing triple-backed bonds to keep costs down.

Opponents of the initiative say tolls are fair because they charge users instead of pulling resources from general tax dollars. Doug MacDonald, the state's former transportation secretary, said voters on the east side of the state should be concerned if the initiative passes because it could force a broad gas tax increase instead of revenue collections targeted at users.

The Association of Washington Business, Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire and Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna are among those who have come out against the initiative, and Microsoft has provided financial support to defeat the measure.

Eyman's plan contains other provisions that would alter the state's tolling plans: It would ban the use of tiered tolling rates for different parts of the day, which essentially would eliminate a state program that adjusts costs for High Occupancy Toll lanes to ensure they continue to flow even when other lanes are congested. And it would prohibit the tolling of one road to pay for another.

His plan also includes a major provision that would halt light rail from running across the Interstate 90 bridge. Eyman's initiative campaign is largely funded by Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman, who has battled against light rail proposals for years.

Funding for construction of that segment — which is to link Seattle to Bellevue and Redmond — was approved by voters in the region three years ago.

Freeman said he supports bus transit and is willing to support tolling if it's used properly. But he said the current method would rely on aggressive tolls to fund overly expensive projects and defer road space for transit links that won't solve the region's problems.

"The people are entitled to a great transit system. They're also entitled to a great road system," Freeman said. "We're in the process of getting neither."

Eyman believes his initiative's restrictions will force lawmakers to consider cheaper ways of doing transportation projects, such as looking at just repairing the Alaskan Way Viaduct instead of replacing it with a tunnel. He said allowing the expansion of tolling without direct oversight from the state Legislature would provide the state with a large pot of money to spend at will.

"It's just a brand new blank check — free money that they can spread around like peanut butter any way they want," Eyman said.

The initiative comes as Democratic leaders consider the possibility of bringing a larger transportation package to voters. Transportation packages approved in 2003 and 2005 increased the gas tax and other fees for a series of projects around the state, but those ongoing tax collections will now largely go toward debt payments on the ventures.

Gregoire has warned that pavement conditions around the state are poised to plummet in the years to come unless voters are willing to commit funds to preserving quality.